This is a raised garden in which I have crammed a lot of plants into. I know some people will say "Hey those are to close together" and " Those plants don't like each other" but I have worked to ensure all of my plants get along (We have a weekly group therapy meeting every Friday). The real idea here is to have the plants shade each other and keep each other cool. It has worked pretty well so far.

The big difference this time is I planted corn in order to have some corn on the cob with my meals and to create a shade barrier for my other plants. I know it won't shade them all day but in the late part of the day every little bit helps. Oh and I will have some corn on the cob!!!!!!

On to the Instructable, here are the details of the vegetable plants I planted.

Great stuff. I learned a lot from your garden project both about use of space and a spot for an animal. I have a Cairn but she isn't yet a digger or a lay in the shade under things dog but between you and some replies it is a lesson for me. Thank you so much.

This really inspired me as I have an annoying "alley" wasting space on the side of my house and have always been sad about it. I never even go in there because the waste repulses me. Now I know exactly what to do with it and it will feed my family! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

Hi, We lived in Tucson for 9 years when I was a kid and my dad had a great garden every summer. You can do it. Just pick plants with a high tolerance for heat and water every morning and every evening. Mulch really well too, to hold the water down on the plants. He grew peppers, radishes, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers. You can check for varieties that are more heat/drought tolerant. Hope it works for you. Have fun!

Wow that looks beautiful! I just have a goofy question. Did cats ever use that area of your yard for pooing? I have a spot like this in my yard that I would love to make a garden in but neighborhood cats have pooed in it so much I'm afraid my plants would get ammonia burn. Any ideas? Thx!

Thanks. No cats have used it as a litter box. I would suggest getting a dog I have two :-) However I had to build a fence to keep them from digging. Just use a tlller or make a raised garden and fill it with mulch compost, I use Omni grow. Sprinkle some chili pepper on the ground that should keep them out.

1. The way to keep the dogs out is to just gate the front of the garden, thereby using about 1/3 of the fencing material (and 2/3 less work) than you ended up using. Not only that, but the fence is blocking too much sun in a garden where you already have walls blocking too much sun. 2. The stones use up about 15% of your available space, for no functional purpose. Also, in midsummer they, in combination with the heat-radiating walls, are going to 'cook' your plants. Too much heat! 3. Too much of the sunlight is falling on the path and stones instead of on the plants. You put a path right in the area of most sunlight. A zig-zag path would work better, creating more interest and more diverse microclimates (but see #5). 4. The wider garden is along the highest wall instead of where it should be, along the shortest wall. 5. Consider raising the beds much higher to reduce the sun blockage from the walls. And if so, you could set up this space as a large keyhole garden, which is what it sort of looks like it wants to be.

Wow bruc33ef that's is all good stuff! I am in AZ and my plants get too much direct sun which is why they are shaded by the walls. And I needed and wanted a place for my dogs to go to and create a den and still have it look nice. My big dog loves to be under the cover of plants so the idea is to surround the dog house with plants to help shade it and still provided a cool dirt area for them. Now the zig zag idea is cool, but too much work. The idea of the castle stone is to give it an astatic look. I want it to both look nice and be functional. The keyhole is a good idea. But this is a 4th generation build in which I never planned on creating, but if I were to go back and redo it a keyhole might be a fine way to go. What will happen later when the corn grows tall it will shade the peppers from overexposure to the sun, at least that is the plan. The plan is to help keep them from getting sun scalded. It is true the stones do heat up the plants, but not nearly as much as the river rock I had put down wow did that ever create some heat. Great ideas keep them coming and thanks for the input! :-)